Wes Avila

Articles by Wes Avila

When Chef Wes Avila first started Guerrilla Tacos in 2012, he wasn’t setting out to do something different—he was setting out to do something good. He had gone to culinary schools in California and France, had cooked alongside some of the most recognized chefs in the world—Walter Manske at L’Auberge, Gary Menes at Le Comptoir, Alain Ducasse at Le Centre de Le Formacion—but he had still not found his own style. Then, one day while driving through his home city in Pico Rivera of East LA, the idea hit him like a stick slamming into a pinata. Tacos. The perfect medium. They were approachable and unpretentious, but could be made into the small and perfected fine-dining meals he had studied and loved. He could make them with locally sourced ingredients and experiment with unique recipes and not have to worry about serving them with all the pretense of a fine dining establishment. It was the way he would bring gourmet to the street and do something good.